


departure.

by seijohs



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Persona 4 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26042107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seijohs/pseuds/seijohs
Summary: yu narukami leaves inaba.
Kudos: 9





	departure.

**Author's Note:**

> kinda persona 4 spoilers like in the tags but not really??? nothing is really referenced he’s just leaving the town 

Yu Narukami was alone. 

When he lived in the city, he was alone. His parents were always busy throughout many phases of his childhood and he never had a true friend to rely on. Although he was well liked at his high school and many were sad to see him have to leave, he never had someone there he could call his friend. Maybe it was because of how quiet and expressionless he was, maybe it was just because no one truly had a high opinion of him. Whatever it was, he was alone. 

He was never opposed to moving to Inaba. Of course, leaving the comfort of the busy, brightly lit streets of Tokyo that he grew up in wasn’t exactly ideal for the gray haired boy, but there was nothing for him that needed him to stay in the city. No friends, no true memories, nothing that begged him to stay in the place he grew up in. He knew the small town would be the exact opposite of what he was used to, but it wasn’t all so bad when he thought about it.

The train ride to Inaba felt pleasing to Yu. Of course the worries and regrets of moving from the city to such a small town in the country lingered in the male’s head, but as he sat and watched the train move from station to station, he couldn’t help but feel at peace. Stepping out of the train when he finally arrived at the Yasoinaba station couldn’t have felt more refreshing to him as he felt the breeze lifting onto his face, making him smile slightly at the gentle atmosphere of the small countryside. 

The Midnight Channel was a terrible thing, Yu learned quickly during his first week of school. Nearly all of his friends could’ve died if it weren’t for Yosuke, Chie, and him falling into the TV that fateful day and unlocking their Personas down the road. He wished that such a thing never existed in the quiet town, so that his friends never would have had to possibly fear for their lives inside the foggy area that was the television, and that Saki Konishi and the radio announcer could be living and enjoying their lives like they could have. Maybe Yosuke would’ve been able to win his crush over eventually, despite her secret negative opinion of him. Yu still feels guilty about that.

However, deep down, he was absolutely grateful that even such a terrible event led him to meet his friends. The small group of diverse personalities and people were the highlight of what he could probably say was his entire life. The boy felt undoubtedly selfish for being thankful for such a disgusting event happening in Inaba, but the Investigation Team allowed him to grow as a person and be more expressive. He was happy. He wasn’t alone anymore, and that’s all he could ask for. 

Eventually, his time in Inaba was over. He had to return home to his parents, who felt less like family in comparison to Nanako and Dojima. He had to leave the friends who he loved and cherished, and who actually loved and cherished him in return. All good things come to an end, he tried to remind himself. But it was hard to accept the fact that he had to go back to where he had nothing in comparison to what he had in Inaba. 

As Yu said his final goodbye’s to his friends and family outside the Yasoinaba station, he stood in front of the train looking out to the town he truly called home. The cool breeze blew into his face, messing up his clean gray hair, he tried his best to put a smile onto his lips for his friends despite how much his emotions made him want to frown. Of course he could come back to Inaba and visit in the summer or on holidays, but there would still always be a voice remaining in the back of his head reminding him how things would always be better living in Inaba. Besides, he would always just have to return home again. It wouldn’t be the same.

Getting onto the train back to the city hurt. He tried to remind himself that this wasn’t a permanent goodbye as the steel vehicle started it’s slow departure. He desperately wanted to yell for the conductor to stop the the train right then and there, but out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of his friends beginning to run with the moving vehicle. They continued to move with the train as far as the station platform stretched out, waving and smiling, yelling goodbye. Yu told himself that he needed to move on like the rest of the team as he waved back in return, the last genuine smile he had left in him morphing onto his lips. 

The train back was anything but pleasing. Too many negative thoughts rushed around his head rapidly and he could hardly even bring himself to enjoy the scenery of the cherry blossoms fluttering around, as Spring had just arrived. He tried to force himself to sleep so he wouldn’t have to deal with such painful thoughts and regrets nagging him for the entire ride, but attempting to enter such a state only made things worse. He settled for turning on his iPod and plugging in his earbuds to listen to his favorite music as the train moved ever so slowly back to the city.

After what felt like forever, Yu made it back to Tokyo. The previous Yasogami student checked his phone for any sign of his parents notifying him that they’d be picking him up like Dojima did in Inaba, or even any "Welcome back!" text. The only thing he found was a flooded inbox of the now disbanded Investigation Team spamming him with how much they’ll miss him and how they hope he had a safe trip home. He didn’t respond though. Looking at the messages just caused him more pain.

Taking a taxi back home was less than ideal. The kind driver attempted to cheer the boy up after she noted the gloomy look on Yu’s face that he didn’t even know he had been expressing, but he couldn’t bring himself to make any small talk with the older lady. He repeatedly continued to check his phone for an apology text from his parents the whole ride back to his residence, but there was still nothing. Just more spam from his friends, which consequently brought more pain. The lady even stopped trying to talk to him. He felt even worse.

Eventually the taxi arrived at his house and the long journey he had was finally over. Yu was finally home. 

He slowly made his way to the front door, removing his shoes before entering the empty home. The halls felt almost foreign to him after his time spent in the Dojima residence. He searched the house for a sign that his parents were just hiding someplace, wanting to throw him a surprise welcome. He desperately hoped that was the case.

"I’m home." He weakly called out, setting down his bag on the dining table. His voice was trembling by the end of the last syllable.

No response. His parents were too busy working to even spend time on his day back, but Yu wasn’t too surprised nor upset. It was normal, and he couldn’t change that. This wasn’t Dojima’s house where he’d be greeted by Nanako welcoming him back and calling him Big Bro, he needed to remember that. 

But the more Yu remembered, the more pain he felt. His friends were hours away from him as well as his true family and things wouldn’t be the same as they were back in Inaba. His parents would be working all the time again and he would be stuck home doing whatever he used to do before moving to the country. 

The gray haired boy was never one to show emotions at all before Inaba. His friends and family there were the one to thank for allowing him to laugh and smile like everyone else. However, with positive emotions comes negative emotions, he found out quickly.

Tears streamed down his face for the first time in what felt like years. He couldn’t stop himself from crying or collapsing to the ground in his sadness and agony before even making it to the dining room chair, all because he remembered something he wish he didn’t.

Yu Narukami was alone, yet again.


End file.
